This Guerrilla Folk Opera was written by Mark and Marichka Marczyk and is based on their own experiences. Counting Sheep starts off quietly enough as the audience listens to the beautiful music played and sung by the musicians of the Lemon Bucket Orkestra. However, as news reel footage covering the 2014 Ukranian uprising in protest at their Government’s decision to withdraw from plans to join Europe is projected onto large screens, musicians and actors begin to act out the on screen action in front of us. Gradually the audience is caught up in the celebrations, struggles, violence and the horror as we are asked to immerse ourselves in the drama along with the actors.
This was a breath-taking hour. The King’s Hall is the perfect venue and the Lemon Bucket Orkestra uses the space effectively. Although there was a level of shyness in the audience (I attended the 2pm showing but most shows are at 8pm in the evening when I would imagine some inhibitions would have disappeared!) by the end of the hour 99% of us were storming the barricades. We are reminded at the end of the hour that the struggle continues and the piece finishes on an understandably sombre note, which ensures that the audience will remember this piece for some time to come.Photo by Dahlia Katz.
*****
Reviewed by Rona
Summerhall King’s Hall 2pm & 8pm 3-28th August 2016